ACL Airshop of the US and CORE Transport Technologies of New Zealand have announced an exclusive strategic alliance for new and field-proven Bluetooth enabled logistics technology to the global air cargo industry, to jointly provide automated tracking of Unit Load Devices (ULD Equipment).

ACL Airshop, with main offices in South Carolina and Amsterdam, is a worldwide provider of custom ULD solutions to over 200 air carriers and cargo clients, with services, repairs, and leasing operations at 40 of the world’s Top 50 air cargo hub airports, substantial manufacturing and supply chain capabilities for cargo control products, and 34 years of experience in air cargo.

CORE Transport Technologies is an agile software developer, focused for over 10 years on services that provide significant improvement to the transportation process in multiple industries, with offices in New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Orlando FL.

Predictive analytics and Big Data are just part of the new efficiencies these innovations can bring to air cargo carriers, according to the two companies. They assert that airlines will also be able to track the actual cargo loads by the container and pallet, that the tracking system will yield real-time “dot on the map” monitoring and status reports, and will reduce both the loss and/or the overstocking of pallets and other mission-essential cargo equipment. This is coupled as a significant technical enhancement to ACL’s already robust ULD Control and bar-coding systems used by some of its customers.

The two companies have successfully concluded extensive beta testing in the field with international air carriers and an array of multiple ULDs, with 100% tracking reliability. Similarly, a global air carrier conducted another CORE test which succeeded with hundreds of ULDs. Market readiness is now complete. Regulatory aspects such as compliance with FCC and FAA rules have been addressed, plus rigorous adherence to RTCA-DO-160 (“Environmental Conditions and Test Procedures for Airborne Equipment”).

Ian Craig, Managing Director & CEO of CORE Transport Technologies explained additional aspects of the logistics enhancements for clients and the strategic alliance merits at a recent air cargo conference. “While CORE has initiated a number of previous technology products independently, with the most current offering of COREInsight Tracking technology, we felt it is best suited for a partnership with a great industry leader like ACL Airshop.”

Craig explained “By partnering with ACL, we introduce a new benefit to leasing ULD Equipment, whereby the lessee can now have an automated avenue to track their leased ULD even when it may be outside their own system. Core grants ACLAS the worldwide exclusive right to license, sublicense, and sell the ULD tracking technology, in tandem with us. ACLAS customers will always know where their ULD’s are located and when they are being utilized.”

Wes Tucker, Executive Vice President for ACL Airshop, said: “This partnership is not only about tracking ACL’s 40,000 ULDs, it’s also about partnering with a formidable technology company to bring electronic ULD tracking to the whole airline industry. We’ve been working in unison with CORE in testing and development of this technology. The results are quite impressive. This is the ultimate solution for ULD Equipment tracking available today.” Tucker further explained benefits for airlines customers: “This is a positive game-changer for ACL Airshop and its hundreds of airlines clients. COREInsight ULD service tracks these valuable assets in real time. FOR ACL’s airlines clients, we predict this will be a low-cost logistics efficacy enhancement that will remarkably improve how we can help them manage their fleet and save money long-term.”

Steve Townes, chairman of ACL Airshop and CEO of Ranger Aerospace, said “Speaking for our entire team of Ranger Airshop co-owners, we are excited to advance and accelerate this new logistics sophistication for ACL’s airline clients, and we are delighted to be partnering with such an excellent teammate as CORE Transport Technologies. We are aiming to accelerate Bluetooth tracking into usage for the many airlines customers who will value the compelling new efficiencies it is designed to deliver for their ULDs.”